Sheesh gang, neither Professor is qualified for the position: Brat ran on vanity and because it’s fun and Trammel was a sacrificial lamb. Brat might be a dull pencil, but more likely he was juggling the sort of minimum wage explanation he taught in introductory economics (if he has taught that, which is not clear) and Republican boilerplate. The GOP will be shipping him a few handlers and then we’ll learn about his message discipline. Republicans love message discipline – a lot more than, you know, policy discussion. Cite: look upthread.
What exactly does it take to be qualified to be a Congressmen? I was always under the impression that anyone was qualified if they were a citizen and lived in the district. It’s the People’s House, we’re supposed to elect regular people to represent us.
These are professors. If anything, they are overqualified.
It always amazes me when because of political partisanship people dub opponent politicians who have graduated from Yale, or Harvard, or have gotten PhDs or medical degrees/boards dumb or, in this case “dull pencils”. It’s stupid. “Dull pencils” do not manage to get PhDs, our higher education system simply does not allow it. I know dozens of people with doctorates - medical or others. Some of them hold political views that I consider stupid, but every one of these people is much more intelligent than average.
He’s probably not stupid. Although he does have very, very stupid beliefs.
I think the complaint here is that he’s utterly ignorant about what he’s come to do. If I hire someone to fix my roof, I don’t want him to have to puzzle out how to work a hammer. I’d prefer that he got the remedial underpinnings out of the way before showing up at the jobsite.
Homeboy doesn’t know what he thinks about Syria, he doesn’t know what he thinks about the minimum wage. His position on immigration is all he is. And angry, seething primary voters clicked his box because they ignorantly believe that doing so would hurt the chances for immigration reform.
Katie Couric wasn’t being an asshole when she asked what Sarah Palin read. She assumed that someone with national political office ambitions actually took the effort to read and understand the issues. But that’s modern conservatism, they think their ignorant gut-intuitions are as good as actual knowledge. And the smartest man in the world isn’t useful if he just relies on knee-jerk ideas without putting in the effort to base them on the real world around him.
Do explain, please, how his views on Syria affect anything at all. And I am sure he has views on minimal wage. But he doesn’t want you or the voters to know them - yet. He has to massage them into an acceptable soundbite, and he’s only been in serious contention for a day, so he hasn’t had time to do that. Look at it this way - Obama is smart, right? But every time he is off the leash and without a teleprompter, he says somethingthat makes his handlers slap themselves on the forehead. Brat doesn’t have handlers, yet. But he will. Never as good as Obama’s, though, and even those miss things.
Oh sure, the old teleprompter schtick. So pray tell how is it that Obama spoke to the House GOP caucus early in his administration and kicked their collective asses six ways from Sunday? Teleprompter or no, Obama can speak intelligently. Sometimes he has to pause to collect his thoughts but he has command of the issues. Does he have the occasional brain fart? Sure. Does that make him stupid? No way.
On the other hand, you win the nomination for a House district, claim to have a PhD in Economics and you can’t freaking talk coherently about the minimum wage? Sure, his foreign policy creds are about as bad as Sarah Palin’s, though he can’t see Russia from his house. So I’m not expecting him to wax eloquently about Syria. But I do think he can talk about something else than “Those damn Mexicans are coming in to take our jobs!”
He is likely to be elected to the United States Congress. If so, he will be playing a significant part in setting this nation’s foreign policy in general, and policy with respect to Syria (among many other places) in particular. His views on Syria will influence what policies he sets, which will affect what the nation does. Is that enough of an explanation for you, or do you need more details filled in?
Which would be nearly all the time. Just because the people complaining about Obama use teleprompters for everything they say, doesn’t mean Obama does too.
An update, of sorts:
Cantor will resign as Majority leader in the next few weeks, and will not run as a write-in candidate, because "To run a write-in campaign is to run not as a Republican, and I am a Republican”.
Cool. Maybe you can show me how, in the last few years, Congress has “set this nation’s foreign policy with respect to Syria”? Maybe some specific bills or votes?
This is a perfect example, you have been told by RW Media that Obama needs a teleprompter to speak, and so you believe it unquestioningly. Getting turned around in one speech doesn’t mean anything. But you will hang your hat on it, ignoring all other information, because all you need is one nugget to “prove” your beliefs right.
So in crafting your reply, you searched for whatever could bolster your argument, and made that the end-all-be-all of the subject. No, Obama’s handlers don’t slap their heads when he talks. He is a fine speaker, and better, by far, than any national Republican alive.
Brat is an economist, but needs handlers to speak about the minimum wage. Yeah. As for Syria, he wants to shape policy, he should know, at least in broad points, what he’s dealing with.
The Tea Party voted for an empty snarl instead of an insightful man. The snarl doesn’t need to understand issues, he just needs to hate immigrants.
It definitely shows that Obama’s “eloquence” without a teleprompter is hugely overrated.
I disagree. I find Obama’s rhetorical skills hugely underwhelming.
Because he’s not speaking as an economist anymore. He’s speaking as a budding politician. And as such, he needs handlers. I know you would like him to speak off the cuff and say something politically (note: politically, not economically) stupid, but he’s apparently smarter than that.
Democracy in action. I have no dog in this fight and know little about Cantor other than being the next hotshot Republican star.
There’s not many places in this world where a powerful and rising political figure can be peacefully voted out in a primary election. Not by a national vote. Citizens in his* own state and his own party* decided he wasn’t properly representing their interests.
We have a similar situation in Ark with Democrat David Pryor. He may lose to a Republican for the same reason. Pryor is closely linked to Obama and perceived as out of touch with the local state interests.
Politicians fall in love with National politics. Much to their peril. Their priority has to be representing the people that actually elected them.
I have no dog in this fight and know little about Cantor other than being the next hotshot Republican star.